Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest)
FREE primitive camping in Black River Wild Forest, part of New York's Adirondack Forest Preserve (DEC Region 6, the North Lake / South Lake / Old Forge country of Herkimer County in the southwestern Adirondacks). This is a DEC-designated primitive tent site ('Long Lake Accessible Campsite', on Long Lake), and New York provides it at NO CHARGE: the DEC page lists the fee as 'Free' and the unit is open year-round. WATER ACCESS: reach this one by boat or paddle on Long Lake (~5 ft from the shore); the nearest road is Long Lake Road (about 0.28 mi off). Note: DEC lists this as an ACCESSIBLE (ADA) tent site that is WATER ACCESS ONLY -- you reach it by boat or paddle on Long Lake, not by car; the nearest road is about a quarter-mile away, so the accessible facilities are at a water-access site. Confirm the accessible launch/route with the Herkimer office before relying on it. This is interior Adirondack Forest Preserve, not a developed campground -- there is no campground office, fee booth or hookups; do not confuse it with the nearby PAID Nicks Lake Campground (which charges a fee and offers amenities) or any other developed campground. SEASON: DEC lists the unit as open year-round, but the interior gates (Loop Road / North Lake Road, Mill Creek Road, Wolf Lake Landing Road) CLOSE for the winter season -- as of the DEC backcountry report read 2026-07-24 they were open for the season -- so DRIVE-UP access is NOT year-round; confirm road/gate status with the Herkimer office before a late-fall, winter or early-spring trip. RULES: this is a designated, first-come first-served free site -- no reservation and no fee. Standard Adirondack Forest Preserve rules apply: camp only at the designated site, and a free Forest Ranger permit is required only if you stay more than 3 nights or camp with a group of 10 or more (arrange it through the DEC Region 6 Herkimer Office at 315-866-6330 (Forest Rangers via 911 or DEC dispatch)). DEC prints no other night limit for these sites, so plan around that statewide 3-night default and confirm on site. This is a primitive site: expect at most a fire ring -- no hookups, no showers and no potable water, so bring water or treat what you take from the lake or river. Pack out all trash, follow Leave No Trace and the DEC fire rules, and store food from bears (this is black-bear country). Confirm current rules and this site's status on the DEC page (dec.ny.gov/places/black-river-wild-forest) or with the Herkimer office (315-866-6330) before you go; we have not visited.
Everything you need — measured from Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest) · Black River Wild Forest · NY
- @Mail2 mi
- FFuel3 mi
- GGrocery10 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- MMechanic10 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- DDump15 mi
- LLaundry22 mi
- WWater23 mi
- OOutfitter24 mi
- +Urgent care27 mi
- EVEV fast charger28 mi
- AAir-up31 mi
- ShShower37 mi
- PPropane57 mi
The read: water is a real 23-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 3 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest)
Nearby & resupply — around Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest) · Black River Wild Forest · NY (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureLong Lake · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Also mapped (OSM)Brandy Lake (water) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townWhite Lake · ~1.0 mi
- Nearest rail line~1.1 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelOtter Lake Gas Station and Grocery · ~2.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~15.3 mi
- GroceriesTops · ~9.8 mi
- PharmacyRite Aid · ~10.1 mi
- Hospital / clinicLewis County General Hospital · ~23.8 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware - Old Forge Department Store · ~14.1 mi
EV charging — from Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest) · Black River Wild Forest · NY — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger28.1 mi straight-line SW — Davidson Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC of Rome (at a car dealership) · EV Connect · CCS · 3 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-11-13 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reachnone within 25 mi · 38 within 50 · 227 within 100 · 523 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)30.6 mi — Utica, NY - Tesla Supercharger, Utica
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO31.2 mi — IONIQ L3 #1, Yorkville
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)9.9 mi — Erwin Park, Boonville, NY · Blink Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Also listed, not counted aboveLevel 2, restricted access — James Mitsubishi, Rome, 26.1 mi · J1772 · hours: 24 hours daily · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast charger$0.35/kWh (as listed by AFDC)
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 89914 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest) · Black River Wild Forest · NY — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomSouth-East Casemate · ~28.1 mi SW · NPS
- RestroomEast Casemate, North Building · ~28.1 mi SW · NPS
- RestroomNorth Casemate · ~28.1 mi SW · NPS
- RestroomStorehouse, Visitors Restrooms · ~28.1 mi SW · NPS
Coming out here — Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest) · Black River Wild Forest · NY
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Long Lake as a perennial lake or pond, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 8.7% — noticeable. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~1.1 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. The atlas also records tourist, museum or scenic passenger service on it. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest) elsewhere
Other camps near Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Administrative Road Campsite (Black River Wild Forest)~9.5 mi
- Middle Settlement Lake Designated Campsite [DEC #18825] (Ha-De-Ron-Dah Wilderness)~9.6 mi
- Primitive Tent Site (Independence River Wild Forest)~10.5 mi
- North Lake Designated Campsite #3 (Black River Wild Forest)~10.7 mi
The unit that manages Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest)
Long Lake Accessible Campsite is in Black River Wild Forest, a wild forest managed by NY DEC. Stay limits, permits, road closures and fire restrictions are set there, not at the campsite — check before you go. Its page maps every camp in it.
How we know this — Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest)
What we don’t know about Long Lake Accessible Campsite (Black River Wild Forest)
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it